Florida Youngsters Quiz Astronaut Via Ham Radio
 Teacher and control op Kimberly Campbell, KG4IZR,
manages the queue of students for the ARISS QSO from Shenandoah Elementary
School. [Megan Bennett Photo]
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NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 24, 2002--Youngsters at Shenandoah Elementary School in Orlando, Florida, this week chatted via Amateur Radio with astronaut Carl Walz, KC5TIE, operating NA1SS aboard the International Space Station. The QSO on April 23 was the 56th successful contact arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Fifteen students were able to talk with Walz about life aboard the ISS.
ARISS mentor Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, said NA1SS came up on the prearranged 2-meter frequency within seconds of the predicted "AOS" (acquisition of signal), and signals held right up to "LOS" (loss of signal)--approximately 10 minutes in all. "The contact was retransmitted on a local Orlando repeater, and there were several TV stations and newspapers in attendance," Sufana said.
One youngster, Alessandra Patterson, wanted to know if Walz was able to communicate with his family while in space and, if so, how often. Walz explained that he speaks with his family almost daily using an Internet telephone system.
Click here for audio of the ARISS Shenandoah Elementary
School contact: 10:54 (ARRL thanks Joe Singer,
N4IPV, for providing this audio clip.)
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Another student, Charles Babir, asked Walz if he had time to read while aboard the ISS and, if so, what he enjoyed reading. Walz said that he reads several electronic newspapers, including the New York Times.
Austin Gentry posed an out-of-the ordinary question: "What would you do if your ship went out of control because of a black hole?" Walz allowed that such an unlikely occurrence would be scary, since the ISS would not be able to escape a black hole. He went on to explain that the ISS did experience control problems some time ago because of computer problems, and that the controllers in Houston and Moscow helped the crew to regain control of the spacecraft.
On the ground, Kimberly Campbell, KG4IZR, did double duty as both the organizing teacher and the control operator at Shenandoah. Assisting were local amateurs Joe Singer, N4IPV, who provided a lot of the equipment; Ed Cox, K3SWJ; and Lou McFadin, W5DID.
ARISS is an international project, with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA. For more information, visit the ARISS Web site.
Page last modified: 11:01 AM, 03 May 2002 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2002, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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